A Outra Oh Hae Young (2016)

pushing myself to watch this nonsense

I came to watch this following the excellent reviews i read, BUT honestly i wonder if i was watching the same drama?? The pace is sooo totally boring and nonsensical, and i'm also not a fan of the supernatural element - like having glimpses of the future - and not even done right! The quality of the video sucks, i've seen better movies from the 90's... the image is washed out for memories and also for present times duhh. The plot also gives an outdated vibe.
If you can survive past the fourth episode, it might get better... not perfect, but better. Still you have to put up with a lot of nonsense just to be able to realize the power of love - its always abt love, isnt it?
Support cast does a great job, even better than the main flow sometimes.

Leia Mais

I was really excited about this drama and was really enjoying it... But I just couldn't get past the male lead's anger issues. Most of the time he was a very gentle lead, very thoughtful and caring to the female lead. He would get overly aggressive with his younger brother and some of the younger guys on his team, with slapstick hitting and what-not, things that I have come to overlook in dramas. But over all I liked him, he seemed to care a lot about the other characters welfare. BUT then out of nowhere he would have outbursts of anger that were so over the top I just couldn't overlook them... I mean I tried... I really did, but they just got too extreme. At one point he hits a car window (with the female lead inside the car) so hard that he busts the window and cuts up his hand. He gets angry at the second male lead for something SML had said to the female lead and he purposefully crashes his car into SML's car. Then is shown not as the INSANITY that it would be in other dramas ( let alone real life) but as somehow heroic or romantic. Then in one scene (because male lead can see the future) he sees himself and female lead having a physical fight with each other, and then making out, and this seems to turn him on... He later threatens to hit female lead if she doesn't comply with something he is asking of her... and she replies with "Does hitting me get you excited?" as if this idea is a turn on for her as well... This only makes his think about the fight they will have and the makeout... as if yes, indeed hitting her would get him excited.... FINALLY, I had to drop this drama, when we actually see the scene he had scene in his vision, she the female lead gets angry at Male lead for toying with he so much, (which he has been doing) and she starts being pretty violent to him... Hitting him repeatedly, male lead becomes violent back in order to get her to stop hitting him, she ends up with a bloodily lip because of it, he DOES get excited, slams her on the wall and makes out with her. Guys, this is not romantic. This is NOT okay. If this was real life, he would FOR SURE be an abusive partner. I can normally overlook some of the aggressiveness in male leads, especially in older dramas... I know that this is a stylistic and cultural view of masculinity, BUT this is just abuse. If this were any other genre, even in a kdrama, this would be the character that we think might be unhinged or the serial killer... but because it's a rom-com, we are supposed to just see him as passionate. THIS IS NOT PASSION. This is a mane with dangerous anger issues, who needs A LOT of counseling and who doe not need to be dating anyone! Sorry that was a lot, but I had a lot of feelings, thanks!

Leia Mais

This drama is so crazy that it's loveable.

Seriously. The mood swings, the drinking, the yelling, the crying. It's somewhat exaggerated, yet relatable.
This drama captivated me since the first episode. I loved the chemistry between the main characters, and the side characters really make the story more fun and loveable. Sometimes, the scenes feel a little draggy, and repetitive- but that's the only downside to the drama.

The supernatural component of the drama is what made the drama more interesting for me.

I recommend this drama to anyone who like romance dramas.

Leia Mais

Considering the makjang premise this show turned out to be a huge surprise. The typical tropes did not really come into play. The secondary love interests didn't cause too many problems & their existence was a meaningful part of the show, which almost never happens with these triangles & squares. I loved the main love line, it was awesome from beginning to end, although at its core it's quite similar to the love story in Goblin. There was an unusual amount of honesty at unexpected times! The 2 secondary couples were also fun to watch, especially the noona + lawyer pairing. The supernatural element was okay too( not great), it did make the show more interesting, especially early on. The pacing of the story was surprisingly good, almost every episode had some melodramatic parts with a good amount of comedic relief in between. The OST was perfect at creating the mood for almost every scene. I usually don't comment on sound quality, when it comes to kdramas, but generally they use budget microphones and there are a lot of pops & clicks that I can clearly hear with my higher end headphone gear. It's nice that in a drama that touches upon sound engineering I can enjoy the sound & music without those usual annoyances.

Naturally this drama isn't perfect. The plot has some weaker points, such as the way our MC accepted death, or how pulling the investment has led to jail time, I mean that is pretty outlandish if you think about it. The sound engineering procedural parts looked awesome, but this is not how they do it in real life, they do make the sounds in a similar way with all kinds of props, but the scenes aren't reenacted in real time, but rather if there are 20 seperate sound sources they record those 20 sounds separately & then merge/edit them in post, plus the step sounds are looped, there is no need for sound engineers to run for minutes on end during recording.

Leia Mais

This drama garnered much anticipation and it had good reason. This drama is about the struggles about a person who has to go through so many struggles as she was constantly compared to a person who was better than her in almost all aspects.

The Good
I enjoyed the story- it was hilarious and heartbreaking as many of you probably had that situation where there is always a person better than you in every way. I loved Isadora (soo Kyung) and her hilarious drunken antics- honestly she is a great actress! I loved all of the actors and actresses since all of them were hilarious in their own right. They portrayed their characters so well that it made me fall in love with them even more.

The plot-line will pull at your heartstrings- the pain of wanting to be with someone but you can't will make you tear up. The two main leads have a great chemistry with one another and it will just make you fall in love with their relationship.

The Bad
In all honesty- i feel that the normal Oh Hae Young's acting was quite unrealistic. She fell in love with Do Kyung- but she seriously got onto my nerves when she demanded unrealistic expectations of Do Kyung. I find it irritating whenever she over-exaggerated her emotions. In my opinion, I think it wouldv'e been better if her character wasn't that demanding.

Not to mention the romance was sometimes overly unrealistic- especially when the two main leads get back together after a fight. Honestly- how does a couple go from nearly ripping each other apart back to a love-induced fantasy without any regard to why they broke up in the first place. I felt that Do Kyung's character was faking it a bit too much whenever he got back together with Hae Young after the break up- like his character had a complete 180 degree turn around. Since when did Do Kyung smile and grin so wide that it makes the viewers just think he's a totally different character!? (although i don't mind since he's such a cutie)

Despite my comments, I know that this drama wasn't intended to be realistic, however I thought it would be nice if there was consistency in their emotions but that's just my little excerpt.

Music
Although the music was fantastic and was quite fitting- they kept using the same 5 tracks over and over again as it gets quite repetitive.... on the bright side, at least it sounded great!

Overall I enjoyed this drama quite a lot and perhaps will be visiting this drama once again in the future!

Leia Mais

great and heartwarming drama♥

Although this great drama is old (2016) but at the same time it can be said that it is suitable for any time.
A drama with a perfect cast of actors, and great acting. She has everything. Romance, a bit of fantasy, although the fantasy in the drama is on the limit of what is possible, a kind of sixth sense), it has comedy, it has the support of a family in the face of family pecking, it has a charming and touching soundtrack (worthy of a playlist), it has healing and recovery, a recommended drama , it was not without reason that it received poor ratings, and the actors won awards for their performance.
And you also learn a thing or two from her, such as how to edit sound behind each movie/series, and how the actors used to look so natural without a huge amount of make-up (something that impressed me the most).
Recommended and heartwarming drama, it is impossible not to rate it 10/10

Leia Mais

Another Miss Oh (2016) - Eric really do choose good dramas. This drama is just have "everything" that I could ask for in terms of the emotions that I could feel in a drama. While the main lead is crying, I would cry a lot as well, maybe much more than the characters because I could really feel the heartache. I really like the plot and story and how it came to life. I applaud the writer and has so much respect for everyone, writers, directors and actors in this drama. I felt frustrated but also in love with the drama. All of the characters in the drama are necessary for the drama to unfold. What I've learned in this drama is that every person has a different perspective in a situation. Even if good intention if there is no honesty, the good intention will not come across.

Leia Mais

Just the perfect drama

This is truly a cult classic. The story is intricately woven, scenes are detailed, laugh loud funny, every character is special and acts beautifully and yes - the steamy kisses are dreamy.
The details of the sound engineer's job are intricately defined. The office staff despite their small roles are given juicy tidbits and they stand out.
The only extra character that could have been deleted is the mother of the male lead. The mother of the female lead was also given to much unwanted screen time. Gosh - can you let your adult children breathe??

The second couples story is very unique and their acting especially the SML is phenomenal. He really contributes to the overall beauty of this drama. The SFL is also very unique and is wonderful.

Leia Mais

This is the first drama I have been able to watch all the way through with Eric Mun. Don't get me wrong, I love him to bits. I think he is gorgeous. But I don't usually like melodramas, and this one almost went that route too. But the story kept up the humor too, so I stayed through til the end, and I am so glad I did! The story was wacky and cute. The OST was perfect. I am even listening to it again as I write this.
Most importantly, the reason I watched this drama. The kisses....were...ahmahzing. Like. WHOA. Now I am going to have to rethink all of my favorite K drama kisses. Totally worth the wait on this one guys. The skinship too, was pretty great. I liked this drama a lot and will be reviewing more about it soon on my blog, I am sure.

Leia Mais

The Sound of Sunlight Shining Through the Window...

Somehow started this drama with no previews so I had no prior expectations. It's now one of those unique pieces of fiction that I won't be able to stop thinking about. This drama doesn't just think outside the box when it comes to creativity, they open up the box and play with what they found inside. Specifically, this drama plays around the perspective of the main character and how they immerse us in that character's views.

This drama doesn't just have us watching, it creates a way for us to really experience the story in a deeper way. Sound designers aren't exactly the most relatable characters because their passion for sound goes beyond music and trendy content like ASMR. By playing with the aspects of sound design the drama gives us a way to see (or rather hear) the drama's world through the main character's eyes (or rather ears).

Foley. The opening scene is one of the most unique character introductions I've seen. The editing truly highlighted Dokyung's job as a sound designer. Sound Design itself isn't an easy concept to visualize, but the intercutting between Dokyung and Haeyoung's scenes help visually express what Dokyung is doing. It also gives us a glimpse of Dokyung's creative mindset by showing us some unexpected props (the gun for the door) among the expected props (high heels). Above all else, foley works as a metaphor for Dokyung's character arc. His visions are like the scenes that need foley and what he does in between those scenes mimics the creative process. His therapist is like the director/screenwriter he consults to help him understand the scenes and come up with the sounds for foley. Dokyung himself puts a strong emphasis in adding sounds that aren't seen on screen such as sounds from outside an open window. He also emphasizes creating sounds for abstract concepts like sunlight shining through the window. In a similar way, Dokyung focuses on what he can do before his visions come true despite having almost no context for what causes Haeyoung to behave the way she does in the visions. Finally, seeing and hearing Dokyung's work in foley serves as a catalyst for us viewers to notice the foley more. In that sense, we can hear the drama from his perspective and possibly even make our own judgements on it in the same way Dokyung does. For example, I personally liked how we could still hear the foley during the scenes that played the OST because other dramas would usually just drown everything else out and only have us hear the OST.

Dialogue. As someone who relies on subtitles to watch dramas, I don't usually focus on listening to the dialogue. However, this drama gave a great scene that reminded me of the importance of dialogue when it came to sound. On the day Dokyung and Haeyoung first meet, they end up going to a bar. We don't hear anything in the scene except for their voices. Their dialogue is used to imply what they must be hearing: they're both shouting (background noise must be loud), they refer to a bartender we don't see (dialogue), and they ask to turn the music down (music). This scene was a glimpse of what these types of scenes would look like from a behind the scenes perspective. Dialogue is the main sound recorded on set. On the other hand, the lack of other sounds is likely referring to room tone, the other main sound recorded on set. Room tone is the silence we hear in movies/tv because it would sound different if there wasn't any sound in those silent parts. This scene is symbolic of Dokyung being an active listener. In loud places, it takes effort to listen and engage with someone in conversation. It's no mistake that Dokyung happens to find Haeyoung's voice recorded in his office. It also showcases Dokyung's specialty in sound. He's more of a listening type than someone who makes noise like the foley artists on his team. Prior examples are when he criticizes his brother's sound design work after listening. After this we see Dokyung mainly working as a sound recordist where he listens to what he or his team members are recording. An aspect of recording sounds is to also balance the levels so it doesn't clip. This shows Dokyung's perspective in that he listens to Haeyoung more than the other voices talking at him. I did the same and actively chose to not listen to certain characters that tried talking to him.

Backgrounds/Ambience. The thing Dokyung does most is going around and sampling background/ambience of different places. More importantly, he records his office. He is the only character that even cares about these sounds. They are easily ignored, but yet we still hear them in the same way Dokyung heard Haeyoung in his office's background noise recording. He's just someone who really listens and finds the little details that can make the sounds design better. It also takes the theme of not judging based on appearance to the next level because it was just a sound he heard. This shows his main difference with his judgmental mom who even sabotaged him in the past with a sound recording because of how she judged someone. I guess it goes to show that Dokyung has a sound judgement in the metaphorical way.

Overall I liked how this drama incorporated Dokyung's job as a symbol for his character. It was creative to highlight certain aspects of the job while using it in scenes that would show more of Dokyung's character. It worked out really well in showing his perspective, especially in combination with the visions he had.

On a minor note, I loved the reference to Memento because I could see the inspiration the drama took from it. In general, I think the drama captured Christopher Nolan's genre although not deep enough to make me want to rewatch for the details.

However,
I think there was an imbalance of how likable the characters could have been. Yes, we are watching from Dokyung's perspective where many characters are at a low point, but I wish we had more characters to cheer for. The sound team was likable, but they didn't get a lot of focus. Isadora did well as comical relief and it worked well that she was revealed to be a great sister when she confronted the mom on behalf of Dokyung and I wish more characters were likable like her early on. It just took way too long to resolve the main situation and it came off making Dokyung/Haeyoung 1-2 look bad and unlikable for a long time. Taejin's situation being explained make him redeemed early on, but he wasn't that involved in a lot of the story until the end where they made him look bad again.

Overall, it was difficult to watch through when 5/6 main characters are at rock bottom because of mistakes they made or just having a bad attitude in reaction of their situations. But it did make the episodes interesting since none were afraid to do the things they did.

Leia Mais

For me Another Miss Oh is one of the big surprises of this year. After stumbling upon some articles about the drama, I decided to give it a try. As most rom-coms tend to be very cliché, I wasn't expecting much. But it sure didn't disappoint me.

The drama doesn't set itself apart with it's story as it's a common plot in a rom-com. That doesn't mean it can't be any good. It's nice for a change, to see how a drama works it's way around a cliché story(line). What really makes this drama worth watching is how the characters are portrayed. It's something where Another Miss Oh distinguishes itself with from the rom-com genre.

What this drama does perfectly is bringing out the charms of every character. Every single "main" character had depth, his or her own story and how they (try to) deal with it. The characters are written in such a good way that they are relatable and you sympathize with hem. That's a difficult thing to achieve in a rom-com as they usually focus on cringy, cliché stuff. Both Seo Hyun Jin (Oh Hae Young) & Eric Moon (Park Do Kyung) did a excellent job portraying the main characters. Especially Seo Hyun Jin. You don't see characters very often that are pretty straight forward (genuine) as her. Whenever Oh Hae Young is happy, you feel happy. She feels sad, you feel bad for her. Eric Moon does very well portraying a hurt and by result, introvert guy who struggles with himself. Park Do Kyung's journey to happiness is nice to see as he slowly opens up to Oh Hae Young. It's not strange to dislike "Pretty" Oh Hae Young (Jeon Hye Bin) in the beginning. If that's the case that means she played her role pretty good. Learning more about her story, you can't help but sympathize with her. Almost every scene with Park Soo Kyung (aka Isadora) was memorable & fun to watch. Her 4D personality & "French" conversations with Lee Ji Sang (Kim Ji Suk) are hilarious. She did a really good job portraying her serious/emotional side as well as her random/drunk persona. Let's not forget the other characters as they all contributed in each his/her own way. If I had to single out someone from the supporting characters it would be the mother of Oh Hae Young played by Kim Mi Kyung. She played a convincing mother, one which feels real. Encouraging and worrying. Whenever Oh Hae Young needed her, she was there. I have yet to see a drama where she doesn't do her character justice. Heo Young Ji did very well as she stood her ground with her first role in a tv drama. Acting as Yoo Anna, a cheerful & energetic girl, I could see similarities with her personality in real life.

The OST is filled with great songs & background music. Ben, Wable & Roy Kim's music (and more) really fit in well with the vibe of the drama. They provide the necessary feels in each scene which sets the tone. Some songs are played more often than others but overall they choose the best suited one for the mood of the scene.

With an extension of 2 episodes, I had hoped they would have ended this in a better way. There were still some loose ends that weren't settled. Not saying I'm entirely dissatisfied with the ending but the extra episodes were pretty much unnecessary. Other than that I really enjoyed this ride and would recommend people to check this drama.

Another Miss Oh is a drama that provides good laughs mixed with touching moments and great acting. Add a little bit of (subtle) life advice and there you have the drama in a nutshell. A refreshing take on how a rom-com can be.

Leia Mais